Mechanical impact printers are known to the prior art for imprinting a succession of characters, which may be expressed in the form of a bar code or the like, on a succession of labels which removably adhere to an elongated strip of label stock backing. In such printers, the elongated strip is moved under tension in a first direction past a print station where the characters are successively imprinted. The imprinted label stock may then be wound onto a take-up reel for subsequent dispensing of the imprinted labels. In certain cases, it is desired to remove the imprinted labels immediately after imprinting. To this end, the prior art has provided label stripping apparatus which may comprise a guide member having a projection or the like forming a label stripping surface around which the label stock is passed after imprinting. If the direction of label stock movement is changed by substantially 90.degree. as it passes around the label stripping surface, and if the label stripping surface is formed by a projection or other sufficiently sharp surface, the individual labels will separate from the label stock backing at the label stripping surface and can thereafter be completely removed from the label stock backing by hand.
It has been ascertained that the use of such label stripping apparatus adversely affects the control of the pitch of the printed characters, e.g., the space between adjacent characters. In the case where the characters represent successive bars of a bar code, in which case both the bars and the spaces between them may contain information, such misprinting or pitch variation can result in certain cases in incorrect code information being imprinted.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a label stripping apparatus for label printers which results in reliable separation of individual labels from a label stock backing and which additionally allows for accurate and precise imprinting of characters on the labels before separation.
It is a further object of this invention to provide such a label stripping apparatus which is simple in construction and which requires no maintenance in its operation.